Cloud gateway device and method for operating a cloud gateway device

ABSTRACT

A cloud gateway device ( 20 ) and a method for operating the same is proposed, wherein the cloud gateway device ( 20 ) is conventionally communicatively connected to one or more IIoT devices ( 12 ) to at least collect data therefrom, and to the cloud ( 18 ) to send collected data into the cloud ( 18 ), wherein the cloud gateway device ( 20 ) comprises a transparency module ( 50 ) provided for implementing transparency features into the cloud gateway device ( 20 ), and wherein operating the said cloud gateway device ( 20 ) comprises acquiring industrial data from the IIoT devices ( 12 ) and/or the cloud gateway device ( 20 ) and computing information (transparency information) pertaining to the said industrial data.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with the area of cloud platforms for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and relates in general to a cloud gateway device functioning as an interface between a cloud platform and IIoT devices in an industrial plant. The invention also relates to a method for operating such a cloud gateway device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Industrial automation systems, machines, field devices, sensors etc.—collectively termed as automation devices in the below—are connected to a cloud platform either directly or via cloud gateway devices. Automation devices connected to the cloud platform are termed as IIoT devices in the below.

Cloud gateway devices are known per se. A cloud gateway device is normally installed in a manufacturing unit. It collects data from IIoT devices, optionally preprocesses analyses and/or encrypts the data, and forwards the data further to the cloud platform in the cloud. The cloud gateway device thus acts as an interface between the IIoT devices and the cloud platform. It may also facilitate a closed loop control between the cloud and the IIoT devices.

Cloud gateway devices—sometimes termed in short as cloud gateway or gateway in the below—are not unheard of as being perceived by its user/users as a “black box” (3^(rd) party's black box) in their network. Users, e.g. companies, plant operators, engineers etc., require transparency about operations performed by the cloud gateway device and transparency about the data transferred by the cloud gateway device. To this end, users want transparency about the cloud gateway's operations and wish for audit capabilities on the cloud gateway, wherein said audit capabilities should show what data is being collected by the cloud gateway and sent to the cloud, which IIoT devices the cloud gateway is communicating with and so on. Gateway management apps in the cloud basically provide this transparency already. However, users sometimes wish to scan all outgoing traffic, use their own data anonymizers and enforce their IT and data handling policies on the outgoing data.

Therefore, there is a general need for a cloud gateway device with increased functionality offering the required level of transparency.

The following prior art document relates to the technological background of cloud gateway devices:

D1 US 2016/147506 A1 (BRITT JOE [US] ET AL) 26 May 2016 (2016-05-26)

Document D1 relates to a network system in which IOT devices are connected to the Internet through a gateway formed by an IOT hub. The IOT hub contains a memory with a program code for executing by a hardware logic. It is also described that IOT devices, such as an environmental sensor may provide an IOT clock hub with a current temperature, pressure and humidity. However, the hub, despite carrying out a program, does not compute but only receives data.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a gateway device with enhanced functionalities such that the cloud does not appear as a black box to users.

This object is solved by a cloud gateway device according to claim 1. Furthermore, this object is also solved by a computer program product according to claim 6. Furthermore, the object is also solved by a computer program product according to claim 7. The object is also solved by a cloud computing environment according to claim 8 which uses a cloud gateway device according to the independent claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments and improvements of the invention are listed in the dependent claims. Hereinafter, before coming to a detailed description of the embodiments of the invention with reference to the attached drawings, some particular aspects of the present invention are highlighted which contribute to the understanding of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention thus involves transparency features implemented in the cloud gateway device itself. Such “onboard” transparency features allow complete visibility and control of the relevant user's data leaving the user's plant, IT network or—more generally speaking—the user's organization via the cloud gateway device.

More specifically, one aspect provides a cloud gateway device which on the one hand is adapted for being communicatively connected to one or more IIoT devices to at least collect data therefrom and which on the other hand is also adapted for being communicatively connected to a cloud platform to send collected data into the cloud platform. The said transparency features are implemented in the cloud gateway device itself, by means of a transparency module. The said transparency module is implemented in software and as thus stored in an internal memory of the cloud gateway device to be executed through processing means, e.g. microprocessor means, comprised by the cloud gateway device. The transparency module is adapted for computing information (transparency information) pertaining to industrial data acquired from the IIoT devices and/or the cloud gateway device, wherein the said industrial data is e.g. inbound traffic data from an IIoT device to the cloud gateway device, outbound traffic data from the cloud gateway device to an IIoT device and/or configuration data residing on the IIoT devices. The computation of the said transparency information is the pivotal transparency feature provided by the transparency module and thus the transparency feature provided by the cloud gateway device. The transparency information can be displayed for being scrutinized by a user and/or can be transferred to another device for being checked there.

Another aspect of the present invention involves a method for operating a cloud gateway device providing transparency features implemented in the cloud gateway device itself.

With respect to the said method, the present invention more specifically provides a method for operating a cloud gateway device as defined here and in the below, wherein the method comprises the steps of acquiring industrial data as defined above from the IIoT devices and/or the cloud gateway device and computing information (transparency information) pertaining to the said industrial data. Acquired industrial data and/or the transparency information resulting therefrom can be stored and/or optionally be displayed on an onboard display unit, local to the cloud gateway device, and/or optionally be made available for being sent to an external device or system, such as a user premises IT system, or for being retrieved by such external device or system.

Further aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the drawings and detailed description of the following preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other concepts of the present invention will now be addressed with reference to the drawings of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The shown embodiments are intended to illustrate, but not to limit the invention. The drawings contain the following figures, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout the description and drawings and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an IIoT system comprising onsite IIoT devices and services available in the cloud as well as a cloud gateway device functioning as an interface between said IIoT devices and said cloud services,

FIG. 2 shows a cloud gateway device and

FIG. 3 shows a simplified flowchart of the method steps performed by the cloud gateway device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an IIoT system 10 comprising onsite IIoT devices 12 (often termed “assets” in professional terminology) interconnected via a network 14 and services 16 (cloud services) available in a cloud platform 18 as well as a cloud gateway device 20. The said gateway device 20 is connected to the said network 14 on the one hand and functions as an interface between said IIoT devices 12 and said cloud services 16 on the other hand.

As is known in the art per se, some IIoT devices 12 can be part of a technical process, e.g. an industrial production process, i.e. an IIoT device 12 can be an actor or a sensor installed in the relevant process, and some IIoT devices 12 can be part of an automation system provided for controlling and/or supervising the process, i.e. an IIoT device 12 can be a PLC device, a SCADA device or an HMI device. Generally speaking, the subject IIoT devices 12 are IIoT devices 12 in an industrial plant.

As is also known in the art per se, services 16 available in the cloud (cloud services) include e.g. data storage services, data processing services, data analytics services etc.

FIG. 1 also shows—in simplified and schematic form—a user premises IT system 22 which is optionally communicatively connected to the network 14 and which is provided for interfacing with the cloud gateway device 20 when accessing transparency features implemented in the cloud gateway device 20, as explained in more detail below.

FIG. 2 shows—again in simplified and schematic form—an exemplary embodiment of a cloud gateway device 20 (“gateway”) as proposed herein with more details. The cloud gateway device 20 can be a pure software application or can alternatively be—as shown—a physical device, comprising software functionality, of course, with an onboard display unit 24. A physical device functioning as a cloud gateway device 20 comprises an internal memory 26 and a processing means 28, e.g. a microprocessor.

A software stack of the cloud gateway device 20 comprises an embedded operating system 30 and so-called middleware 32, wherein the said middleware is provided for functions such as containerization, virtualization and/or software module management.

A data-acquisition module 40 implements the device drivers for collecting data from an IIoT device 12 (FIG. 1) or IIoT devices 12 and for managing an IIoT device 12 or IIoT devices 12 connected to the cloud gateway device 20. The data collected by the data-acquisition module 40 is termed industrial data hereinafter and is at least one of inbound traffic data from an IIoT device 12 to the cloud gateway device 20, outbound traffic data from the cloud gateway device 20 to an IIoT device 12 and configuration data residing on the IIoT devices 12.

An optional onboard analytics module 42 is provided for pre-processing industrial data collected by the data-acquisition module 40 and for running onboard analytics algorithms and apps.

An optional device management module 44 is provided for deploying and managing a configuration (data acquisition settings, firmware upgrade etc.) of the cloud gateway device 20.

An optional connectivity module 46 is provided for managing network interfaces to the cloud 18 (FIG. 1) and to the IIoT devices 12 (FIG. 1) connected to the cloud gateway device 20.

The aforementioned modules, i.e. the data-acquisition module 40, the analytics module 42, the management module 44 and the connectivity module 46, as well as their relevant functionalities are known per se and are therefore not described here in more detail.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the audit and transparency feature proposed here is implemented in the form of a transparency module 50 and the said transparency module 50 is part of the software stack of the cloud gateway device 20. The transparency module 50 is thus stored in the internal memory 26 of the cloud gateway device 20 and is executed by the processing means 28 of the cloud gateway device 20 during operation of the cloud gateway device 20.

The transparency module 50 is adapted for computing information (transparency information) pertaining to the said industrial data, acquired from the IIoT devices 12 and/or the cloud gateway device 20 with the help of defined interfaces (e.g. REST interface, MODBUS interface) and on an on demand basis. To this end, the transparency module 50 is adapted for computing transparency information based on at least one of the following by interfacing internally with at least one of the other modules 40-46 comprised by the cloud gateway device 20:

1. Data traffic, namely inbound data traffic (from IIoT devices 12 to the gateway 20) and/or outbound data traffic (from the gateway 20 to the cloud 18).

2. Configuration data pertaining to the data acquisition, for example one or more of the following:

-   -   time series variables collected along with their corresponding         sampling frequency;     -   data buffers (e.g. diagnostic buffers from PLCs) from the IIoT         devices 12 being collected;     -   number of IIoT devices 12 connected to the gateway 20 along with         their IP addresses;     -   write operations by the gateway 20 destined for at least one of         the IIoT devices 12 connected to the gateway 20;     -   anonymization status, i.e. data pertaining to whether         anonymization is being performed on the data by the gateway 20;     -   details of onboard analytics being performed on the data.

The said transparency information is preferably being displayed on a display device, for example on an onboard display unit 24 of the cloud gateway device 20. Additionally and/or alternatively the information is made available externally by being transferred via an interface 52 of the cloud gateway device 20, e.g. an API or a REST API or a plurality of APIs or REST APIs, to e.g. an external system.

To this end, the arrow originating at the interface 52 and pointing outwards of the cloud gateway device 20 is meant to symbolize such information made available to e.g. an external system such as a user premises IT system 22 (FIG. 1, FIG. 2).

The arrow originating at the interface 52 and pointing towards the onboard display unit 24 is meant to symbolize information being displayed through the said onboard display unit 24.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of features implemented by the transparency module 50 for supporting e.g. IT policies of a user of the cloud gateway device 20:

1. The transparency module 50 allows for starting and stopping the industrial data acquisition locally on the cloud gateway device 20. Relevant actions are initiated automatically by the transparency module 50 upon receipt of respective data acquisition start or data acquisition stop commands (e.g. PUT iotgateway/audit/stop-all-data-transfer, PUT iotgateway/audit/resume-all-data-transfer).

2. The transparency module 50 allows for obtaining a parallel stream of all the data collected by the cloud gateway device 20 and/or all the data transferred to the cloud platform 18 by the cloud gateway device 20. Relevant actions are initiated automatically by the transparency module 50 upon receipt of respective data acquisition commands (e.g GET iotgateway/audit/inbound-data-stream, GET iotgateway/audit/outbound-data-stream).

3. The transparency module 50 allows for inspecting all control signals used by the cloud gateway device 20 and/or allows for inspecting all write operations of the cloud gateway device 20 on the IIoT devices 12, the latter optionally before they are performed by the cloud gateway device 20. Again, relevant actions are initiated automatically by the transparency module 50 upon receipt of respective data acquisition commands (e.g GET iotgateway/audit/all-control-operations, GET iotgateway/audit/all-write-operations).

4. The transparency module 50 allows for plugging in custom anonymization modules by the user, so that the data collected and/or processed by the cloud gateway device 20 can be anonymized as per the user's requirements and IT policies. A relevant module is installed on the cloud gateway device 20 and integrated into the cloud gateway's 20 software stack upon receipt of a respective deployment command (e.g. PUT iotgateway/audit/deploy-custom-anonymizer).

One or more of the above features can be made available as APIs on the cloud gateway device 20 within the transparency module's 50 interface 52. The transparency module 50 comprises processing functionality provided for interpreting and executing one or more of the aforementioned commands, receivable from e.g. a user premises IT system 22. The data identified in an acquisition command or a plurality of acquisition commands and being made available through the transparency module 50 is displayed by means of the onboard display unit 24 and/or being transferred to the original requester, e.g. the premises IT system 22 or a dedicated device therein, to be displayed and/or processed there as appropriate.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flowchart, showing the steps performed by the cloud gateway device 20 when operating according to the subject invention. A first step S1 represents the step of acquiring the industrial data from the IIoT devices 12 and/or the cloud gateway device 20. A second step S2 represents the step of computing information pertaining to the industrial data. A third step S3 represents the step of displaying the computed information pertaining to the industrial data on the onboard display unit 24 of the cloud gateway device 20.

The present invention provides the following advantages to the supplier and system integrator: Data processed by the cloud gateway device 20 and/or sent by the cloud gateway device 20 to the cloud 18 becomes fully accessible for the cloud gateway's user without having to make use of 3 ^(rd) party apps available in the cloud 18. The user now has the ability to better check if sensitive data is processed correctly and/or can apply additional steps for processing, e.g. encrypting the data, as seen fit.

In addition to the embodiments of the aspects of the present invention described above, those of skill in the art will be able to arrive at a variety of other arrangements and steps which, if not explicitly described in this document, nevertheless embody the principles of the invention and fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Briefly summarizing the above, this disclosure proposes a cloud gateway device 20 and a method for operating the same, wherein the cloud gateway device 20 is conventionally communicatively connected to one or more IIoT devices 12 to at least collect data therefrom and to the cloud 18 for sending collected data into the cloud 18, wherein the cloud gateway device 20 comprises a transparency module 50 provided for implementing transparency features into the cloud gateway device 20, and wherein operating the said cloud gateway device 20 comprises acquiring industrial data from the IIoT devices 12 and/or the cloud gateway device 20 and computing information (transparency information) pertaining to the said industrial data. 

1. A cloud gateway device (20) a) adapted for being communicatively connected to one or more IIoT devices (12) to at least acquire industrial data therefrom and b) adapted for being communicatively connected to a cloud platform (18) to send the collected industrial data to the cloud platform (18), wherein the cloud gateway device (20) comprises: c1) a processing means (28), c2) a memory (26) coupled to the processing means (28), c3) a transparency module (50) and c4) an on-board display unit (24), c5) wherein the said transparency module (50) is stored in the said memory (26) in the form of machine-readable instructions and is executable by said processing means (28), c6) wherein the said transparency module (50) is adapted for computing transparency information pertaining to the industrial data acquired from the IIoT devices (12) and/or the cloud gateway device (20), c7) wherein the transparency module (50) is adapted for computing the transparency information, by interfacing internally with an onboard analytics module (42) and a data-acquisition module (40), said onboard analytics module (42) being provided for pre-processing said industrial data collected by the data-acquisition module (40), based on at least one of the following inbound traffic data from an IIoT device (12) to the cloud gateway device (20), outbound traffic data from the cloud gateway device (20) to an IIoT device (12) and/or configuration data residing on the IIoT devices (12), and c8) wherein the said on-board display unit (24) is adapted for displaying the computed information pertaining to the acquired industrial data; and d) wherein the transparency module (50) allows for plugging in custom anonymization modules by the user, so that the data collected and/or processed by the cloud gateway device (20) is anonymized as per the user's requirements and IT policies, wherein a relevant module is installed on the cloud gateway device (20) and integrated into the cloud gateway's (20) software stack upon receipt of a respective deployment command.
 2. The cloud gateway device (20) of claim 1, comprising an interface (52) provided for transferring the said computed information pertaining to the said industrial data to an external device or system (22).
 3. A method for operating a cloud gateway device (20) of any one of the preceding claims 1 and 2, said method comprising the steps of: acquiring the said industrial data from the IIoT devices (12) and/or the cloud gateway device (20); computing information pertaining to the industrial data; and displaying the computed information pertaining to the industrial data on an onboard display unit (24).
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises the step of activating the data-acquisition module (40) residing in the said memory (26) for being executed by the said processing means (28), wherein the said data-acquisition module (40) is adapted for acquiring the said industrial data from the IIoT devices (12) and/or the cloud gateway device (20).
 5. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein the method further comprises the step of transferring the said computed information pertaining to the said industrial data to an external device or system (22) by means of an interface (52) comprised by the cloud gateway device (20).
 6. A computer program product directly loadable into the internal memory of a cloud gateway device (20) of any one of claims 1 to 2, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of any one of claims 3 to 5, when said product is run on the cloud gateway device (20).
 7. A computer program product stored on a computer usable medium, comprising computer readable program means for causing a cloud gateway device (20) of any one of claims 1 and 2 to perform a method according to any one of claims 3 to
 5. 8. A cloud computing environment comprising: a cloud platform (18) for providing one or more cloud services (16); a cloud gateway device (20) according to any one of the claims 1 to 2; and one or more IIoT devices (12) in an industrial plant, wherein said cloud gateway device (20) is communicatively connected to said cloud platform (18) and wherein the one or more IIoT devices (12) are communicatively connected to said cloud gateway device (20). 